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$26 of Software Defeats American Military
reporter writes "A computer program that can be easily purchased for $25.95 off the Internet can read and store the data transmitted on an unsecured channel by an unmanned drone. Drones are crucial to American military operations, for these aerial vehicles enable Washington to conduct war with a reduced number of soldiers. '... the intercepts could give America's enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under US surveillance.'"
...you observe uav
Don't tell the DoD. They've been paying $7,000 per license for that software.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
Perhaps the US can put an IP copyright on the data then sue anyone who looks at it without a licesnce! More money!
-- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
I doubt a "terrorist" is the kind of person who would actually spend money on software. I know perfectly reasonable teenagers who access software for free all the time on this thing called the internet.
Clovis
^ Clovis, look! It's that guy you are!
Turns out the drones use bluetooth. Just the other day my laptop asked me to sync to one when I was put a pringles can on the antenna.
"Windows has found a MQ-9 Reaper, would you like to connect?"
At this point I was (a.) terrified and (b.) glad that somebody with some clout was going to do something about the increased crime in the area.
Let me guess. GA-ASI (maker of the MQ-9 Reaper drone) makes voting machines too.
Not all religious zealots with huge bushy beards who fight in jihads and live in caves and don't use commercial software are terrorists.
Whoever made this decision at General Atomics should be put up against the wall and shot. I assume it was management not wanting to get stuck with $100 bill of materials for a slightly faster CPU or DSP that can do realtime encryption, or by underbidding enough to get the contract only to cheap out and fuck it up.
Whoever accepted this for the military should be court-martialed, put up against a wall, and shot. Folks that stupid should be nowhere near technology. This is also likely some form of typical military graft, and at this point the folks involved probably have cushy General Atomics mob jobs.
We (the Allies we) cracked Enigma and Purple, and we get down to this.. It's not like uncrackable crypto isn't available FOR FREE, often designed by folks on the military payroll in some fashion years or decades ago.
Thanks, GA, for ruining my morning.
The only question is, would this make more sense as an added option in wireshark, or GNU Radio?
Well to keep with the unix philisophy of small reusable components the following should be done:
--- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
If you squint and have a vivid imagination, they can never stop you.
Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
"Hey I can see my house from here! Oh Wai..."
Damn straight. There's Free Software that can do it!
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Why not use the Drones as a way to help folks? Afghanistan does not need an Aggressor Sniper Team for every flat tire problem. How about applications like Snow Fall Levels? Lake Levels? Traffic? Crop Pests? River and Lake Levels? Civil Engineering Project Completions? Sometimes just walking up to the person and saying, "Would you please stop flipping off the Reapers as they fly by. To Americans it means 'I going to empty my bladder'."
Obviously they don't think it's a big issue. And they're right. What's the worst case scenario here?
Last words overheard from an Al Qaeda satellite-intercept house: "Hey, look, I'm on TV!"
Yes, it was approximately the size of a UAV.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Your comment that GA-ASI does not make voting machines has been recorded. Have a nice day!
What they SHOULD do is to substitute porn for the regular video feeds.
They would either stop watching out of their sense of morality or NEVER stop watching.
Win - Win situation.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
I believe that the technical term for that is "Security Through La-la-la-I'm-not-listening!"
Although it has a long and glorious past filled with successes, it's still not a recommended way to secure anything more important than ordering a pizza.
1) Spread rumors that cheap software can defeat Predator drones.
2) Offer software for sale on the internet.
3) Include tracking device with every copy of software sold.
4) Trace every shipment to it's destination.
5) Send Predator drone to attack destination.
Yep, sounds like a winning plan to me!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.